Beauty Tips from a Breast Cancer Survivor

If you, a friend, or a family member has ever gone through cancer treatments, you can certainly attest to the fact that one of the hardest parts of the ordeal is getting used to looking at yourself in the mirror. Everything changes: your complexion, your hair, your nails, your eyelashes and eyebrows. Often, you look sicker than you actually feel. It becomes an entirely new battle, but with some practice, it's an easy one to overcome. Breast cancer survivor Alyssa Vingan learned some morale-boosting beauty tips over her year of chemotherapy, and here she'll teach you how to look—and, in turn, feel—your best while fighting cancer.

Use eyeshadow to fill in thinning brows.

Use eyeshadow to fill in thinning brows.

Bleached brows are definitely a trendy thing, but not having eyebrows on purpose is a totally different story than losing them altogether. Thinned-out brows can completely wash you out and appear to change the shape of your face, so filling them in with an eyeshadow that's a shade or two lighter than your natural brow color is a key trick to learn. I've found that some women can get a bit heavy-handed using a brow pencil, and the results can look severe. Instead, use an angled brush—making sure to keep within the natural line of your brows—and lightly smudge the powder in.

Make your lashes look thicker with well-placed eyeliner.

Make your lashes look thicker with well-placed eyeliner.

One of the things that can make you look the sickest—in my opinion—while going through cancer treatment is the absence of eyelashes. The difference this lack of definition around the eyes can make is pretty jarring, but luckily there are plenty of ways to fake fuller-looking lashes. I used a fine eyeliner brush and a dark gel liner to coat the inner rim of my upper lash line, which creates the illusion of lush lashes. Make sure to fill in the gaps between the lashes that you do have very well!